Preamble

The Province of New Brunswick plans to work with the different partners in the education sector to ensure the success of the projects it implemented as a part of the complementary projects regarding official languages.

New Brunswick has set out two separate four-year action plans for official languages in education under the Canada - New Brunswick Agreement on French First-Language Education and French Second-Language Instruction - 2005-2006 to 2008-2009. The main purpose of the action plan for regular programs is to maintain winning structures and practices already in place and improved quality of learning. The action plan for additional strategies is designed to improve the quality of existing programs of instruction in French to uphold the objectives of Canada's Action Plan for Official Languages.

The «École au coeur de la communauté» and «Consortium national de développement de ressources pédagogiques en français au collégial» projects proposed in 2005-2006 under the New Brunswick agreement on complementary projects were to extend over several years and targeted action-oriented research that should enable the province's main education stakeholders to think and operate in an innovative environment and look at new ways of doing things.

These two projects continue to be innovative, include action research components, and are based on the provincial pilot project structure with the intent of bringing them into more widespread use over the medium term. These projects are particularly important in guiding the renewal of current practices and providing leaders in education with food for thought. They will help support the priorities of the Memorandum of Agreement, especially the promotion of research on French-language education. For that reason, the Province of New Brunswick intends to proceed with the implementation of these projects during the 2006-2007 year.

The main goal of the «École au coeur de la communauté» project has not changed. It is designed for schools from kindergarten to Grade 12. It targets the growth and quality of programs and cultural enrichment of Francophone school environments at all levels of education. This pilot project provides new ways of working. It will certainly influence future practices in the education of Francophones across Canada. It should be noted that certain performance indicators were modified to facilitate the evaluation of the desired outcomes.

This year, the originator of the Entrepreneurial Community School concept was hired to work with the three schools that chose this concept. The development officers are still working at four schools and a school principal assumes this role in the fifth school participating in the project. The aim is still for a change in the organizational culture within the participating schools.

It is important to note that the «action research» pilot projects will continue to serve as examples in all of New Brunswick's schools and in Canada as a whole. For this reason, three of the five schools have opted for the entrepreneurial community school concept; another school chose to focus on language and culture, while still working toward establishing closer links with the community. The final school participating adopted the concept of a school that is open to the world, drawing its inspiration from UNESCO values.

The «École au coeur de la communauté» projects will thus take on different characteristics and will offer more options to Acadian and Francophone communities in the province and throughout Canada.

The «Consortium national de développement de resources pédagogiques en français au collégial» project was implemented by the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick, in cooperation with other areas of the country, in order to fill certain needs for educational resources in French at the college level. It makes it possible to capitalize on investments in official languages in education to develop partnerships and increase cooperation between the provinces and territories. Therefore, it promotes the pooling of resources and expertise from various sources. The objectives for the year 2006-2007 are no longer to implement the Consortium, but to manage it, and to develop educational projects.

The Consortium will be incorporated in 2006-2007, and a director for the Consortium will be hired. Furthermore, 2006-2007 will also see the development of a policy handbook and a business plan.

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